The present invention provides a method for forwarding data in the Ethernet, an Ethernet physical layer cross apparatus, an Ethernet Media Access Control (MAC) layer cross apparatus, an Ethernet IP layer cross apparatus and cross cascade systems. In the method of the present invention includes the following features: configuring cross relationships between network device interfaces; determining whether an interface has a cross relationship with other interfaces according to the cross relationships configured after receiving data from the interface; sending the data to an interface which has a cross relationship with the interface from which the data is received if the interface from which the data is received has a cross relationship with other interfaces; and proceeding with existing forwarding processing in each layer if the interface from which the data is received does not have a cross relationship with other interfaces. The solution of the present invention dramatically reduces workload of network devices in the Ethernet and improves forwarding performance of the network devices.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. An Ethernet physical layer cross apparatus, comprising: a plurality of analog interfaces, a plurality of digital interfaces respectively corresponding to each of the analog interfaces; and a cross processing unit; wherein the cross processing unit is configured to save cross relationships between network device interfaces; send data outputted from a first analog interface to a second analog interface if determining that the first analog interface has a cross relationship with the second analog interface according to the cross relationships saved after receiving the data from the first analog interface; and send the data outputted from the first analog interface to a digital interface corresponding to the first analog interface if determining that the first analog interface does not have a cross relationship with other analog interfaces according to the cross relationships saved.
2. The Ethernet physical layer cross apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising: a plurality of clock and coding/decoding processing units and a plurality of Media Access Control, MAC, layer interface processing units respectively corresponding to each of the analog interfaces and connected between the analog interfaces and the digital interfaces; wherein the cross processing unit is connected between the clock and coding/decoding processing units and the MAC layer interface processing units.
3. An Ethernet physical layer cross apparatus, comprising: a plurality of analog interfaces and a first multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit; and a cross processing unit, and a multiplex interface connected with the first multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit and an outside apparatus; wherein the cross processing unit is configured to save cross relationships between network device interfaces; send data output from a first analog interface to a second analog interface if determining that the first analog interface has a cross relationship with the second analog interface according to the cross relationships saved when receiving the data outputted from the first analog interface; and send the data outputted from the first analog interface to the first multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit if determining that the first analog interface does not have a cross relationship with other analog interfaces according to the cross relationships saved.
4. The Ethernet physical layer cross apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the first multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit comprises a multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit of a cross interface and a multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit of a forwarding interface; and the multiplex interface comprises a cross multiplex interface connected with the multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit of the cross interface and a forwarding multiplex interface connected with the multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit of the forwarding interface; wherein the cross processing unit is further configured to send the data outputted from the first analog interface to the multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit of the forwarding interface if determining that the first analog interface does not have a cross relationship with other analog interfaces according to the cross relationships saved; and send the data outputted from the first analog interface to the multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit of the cross interface if determining that the first analog interface has a cross relationship with the cross multiplex interface according to the cross relationships saved.
5. The Ethernet physical layer cross apparatus of claim 4 , further comprising: a plurality of clock and coding/decoding processing units and a plurality of MAC layer interface processing units respectively corresponding to the analog interfaces and connected between the analog interfaces and the first multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit; wherein the cross processing unit is directly connected between the clock and coding/decoding processing units and the MAC layer interface processing units; wherein a MAC layer interface processing unit corresponding to the first analog interface is further configured to send the data to the multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit of the cross interface if receiving the data and cascade cross information sent from the cross processing unit; and send the data to the multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit of the forwarding interface if receiving the data from the cross processing unit.
6. The Ethernet physical layer cross apparatus of claim 3 , further comprising: a second multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit, coupled with the plurality of analog interfaces and the cross processing unit, configured to de-multiplex multiplexed data received from each analog interface, send de-multiplexed data to the cross processing unit, and send data requiring to be crossed with a previous level apparatus from the cross processing unit to a corresponding analog interface; wherein the cross processing unit is further configured to send the data requiring to be crossed with the previous level apparatus and information of the analog interface corresponding to the data requiring to be crossed with the previous level apparatus to the second multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit if determining that the interface corresponding to the de-multiplexed data requires to be crossed with the previous level apparatus according to the cross relationships saved.
7. The Ethernet physical layer cross apparatus of claim 6 , further comprising: a plurality of clock and coding/decoding processing units, respectively corresponding to the analog interfaces and connected between the analog interfaces and the cross processing unit; wherein the second multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit is directly connected between the clock and coding/decoding processing units and the cross processing unit.
8. An Ethernet Media Access Control, MAC, layer cross apparatus, comprising: a plurality of digital interfaces and a MAC layer access control unit; and a first multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit and a cross processing unit; wherein the first multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit is configured to de-multiplex data outputted from the digital interfaces, send the de-multiplexed data to the cross processing unit, and send data requiring to be crossed with a previous level apparatus received from the cross processing unit to a corresponding digital interface; and the cross processing unit is configured to save cross relationships between network device interfaces, send the data requiring to be crossed with the previous level apparatus and information of an interface corresponding to the data requiring to be crossed with the previous level apparatus to the first multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit if determining that the interface corresponding to de-multiplexed data requires to be crossed with the previous level apparatus according to the cross relationships saved, and send the data to the MAC layer access control unit if determining that the interface corresponding to the de-multiplexed data does not have a cross relationship with other digital interfaces.
9. The Ethernet MAC layer cross apparatus of claim 8 , further comprising: a cross cascade interface connected with a next level apparatus, and a second multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit connected between the cross cascade interface and the cross processing unit; wherein the cross processing unit is further configured to send the de-multiplexed data to the second multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit directly connected with the cross cascade interface if determining that the interface corresponding to the de-multiplexed data has a cross relationship with the cross cascade interface according to the cross relationships saved; and the second multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit connected between the cross cascade interface and the cross processing unit is configured to multiplex the data and send multiplex data to the cross cascade interface.
10. An Ethernet Internet Protocol, IP, layer cross apparatus, comprising: a plurality of digital interfaces and an IP layer processing unit; and a first multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit and a cross processing unit; wherein the first multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit is configured to de-multiplex data outputted from the digital interfaces, send de-multiplexed data to the cross processing unit, and send data requiring to be crossed with a previous level apparatus received from the cross processing unit to a corresponding digital interface; and the cross processing unit is configured to save cross relationships between network device interfaces, send the data requiring to be crossed with the previous level apparatus and information of an interface corresponding to the data requiring to be crossed with the previous level apparatus to the first multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit if determining that the interface corresponding to the de-multiplexed data requires to be crossed with the previous level apparatus according to the cross relationships saved, and send the data to the IP layer processing unit if determining that interface corresponding to the de-multiplexed data does not have a cross relationship with other digital interfaces.
11. The Ethernet IP layer cross apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising: a cross cascade interface connected with a next level apparatus, and a second multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit connected between the cross cascade interface and the cross processing unit; wherein the cross processing unit is further configured to send the data to the second multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit directly connected with the cross cascade interface if determining that the interface corresponding to the de-multiplexed data has a cross relationship with the cross cascade interface; and the second multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit connected between the cross cascade interface and the cross processing unit is configured to multiplex the data and send the multiplexed data to the cross cascade interface.
12. An Ethernet physical layer cross cascade system, comprising: a first level Ethernet physical layer cross apparatus, and at least one Ethernet physical layer cross apparatus cascaded with the first level Ethernet physical layer cross apparatus; wherein the first level Ethernet physical layer cross apparatus comprises; a plurality of analog interfaces, a cross processing unit, a first multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit and a multiplex interface connected with the first multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit and an outside apparatus; the first multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit comprises; a multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit of a cross interface and a multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit of a forwarding interface; the multiplex interface comprises; a cross multiplex interface connected with the multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit of the cross interface and a forwarding multiplex interface connected with the multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit of the forwarding interface; wherein the cross processing unit is configured to save cross relationships between network device interfaces; send data output from a first analog interface to a second analog interface if determining that the first analog interface has a cross relationship with the second analog interface according to the cross relationships saved when receiving the data outputted from the first analog interface; send the data outputted from the first analog interface to the multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit of the forwarding interface if determining that the first analog interface does not have a cross relationship with the second analog interface and other analog interfaces according to the cross relationships saved; and send the data outputted from the first analog interface to the multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit of the cross interface if determining that the first analog interface has a cross relationship with the cross multiplex interface according to the cross relationships saved; wherein the at least one Ethernet physical layer cross apparatus cascaded with the first level Ethernet physical layer cross apparatus comprises: the plurality of analog interfaces, the cross processing unit, the first multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit, the multiplex interface connected with the first multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit and the outside apparatus, and a second multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit; wherein the second multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit is coupled with the plurality of analog interfaces and the cross processing unit and configured to de-multiplex multiplexed data received from each analog interface, send de-multiplexed data to the cross processing unit, and send data requiring to be crossed with a previous level apparatus from the cross processing unit to a corresponding analog interface; wherein the cross processing unit is further configured to send the data requiring to be crossed with the previous level apparatus and information of the analog interface corresponding to the data requiring to be crossed with the previous level apparatus to the second multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit if determining that the interface corresponding to the de-multiplexed data requires to be crossed with the previous level apparatus according to the cross relationships saved.
13. The Ethernet physical layer cross cascade system of claim 12 , wherein each of the Ethernet physical layer cross apparatus further comprises: a plurality of clock and coding/decoding processing units and a plurality of MAC layer interface processing units respectively corresponding to the analog interfaces and connected between the analog interface and the first multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit; the cross processing unit is directly connected between the clock and coding/decoding processing units and the MAC layer interface processing units; and a MAC layer interface processing unit corresponding to the first analog interface is further configured to send the data to the multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit of the cross interface if receiving the data and cascade cross information from the cross processing unit, and send the data to the multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit of the forwarding interface if receiving the data from the cross processing unit.
14. The Ethernet physical layer cross cascade system of claim 12 , a next level Ethernet physical layer cross apparatus further comprises: a plurality of clock and coding/decoding processing units respectively corresponding to the analog interfaces and connected between the analog interfaces and the cross processing unit; wherein the second multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit is directly connected between the clock and coding/decoding processing units and the cross processing unit.
15. The Ethernet physical layer cross cascade system of claim 12 , further comprising: a self-negotiation unit, configured to obtain at least one of transmission rate and multiplex manner respectively supported by each analog interface and each multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit of the previous level Ethernet physical layer cross apparatus and each multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit and the media access control port of the next level Ethernet physical layer cross apparatus, determine at least one of the transmission rate and multiplex manner used by each interface, and send the determined at least one of the transmission rate and multiplex manner to each analog interface and each multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit of the previous level Ethernet physical layer cross apparatus and each multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit and the media access control port of the next level Ethernet physical layer cross apparatus respectively.
16. The Ethernet physical layer cross cascade system of claim 12 , wherein the multiplex and de-multiplex processing unit connected with the multiplex interface in each Ethernet physical layer cross apparatus comprises: an interface identifier storage module, configured to store identifiers respectively corresponding to the analog interfaces in each Ethernet physical layer cross apparatus; a frame multiplex module, configured to search in the interface identifier storage module for a first identifier corresponding to a first analog interface after receiving a first data from the first analog interface, carry the first identifier in the first data and send the first data to a cache processing module, send a second data received from the cache processing module carrying a second identifier to a second analog interface according to the second identifier carried in the second data and content stored in the interface identifier storage module; the cache processing module, configured to cache the first data received from the frame multiplex module, convert transmission rate of the first data sent from the frame multiplex module according to transmission rate of the connected multiplex interface and send the first data to the multiplex interface; cache the second data carrying the second identifier received from the multiplex interface, convert the transmission rate of the second data carrying the second identifier according to transmission rate of the second analog interface, and send the second data to the frame multiplex module.
17. The Ethernet physical layer cross cascade system of claim 12 , wherein the multiplex and de-multiplex cross apparatus connected with the multiplex interface in each Ethernet physical layer cross apparatus comprises: a time slot identifier storage module, configured to store identifiers and time slots respectively corresponding to the analog interfaces in each Ethernet physical layer cross apparatus; an identifier processing module, configured to read a first data of fixed length from a first analog interface at a corresponding time slot of the first analog interface according to content of the time slot identifier storage module, carry a first identifier corresponding to the first analog interface in the first data, send the first data to a byte multiplex module, send a second data carrying a second identifier of a second analog interface to the second analog interface according to the second identifier carried in the second data after receiving the second data from the byte multiplex module; and the byte multiplex module, configured to convert transmission rate of the first data sent from the identifier processing module according to transmission rate of the multiplex interface, send the first data to the multiplex interface, convert transmission rate of the second data carrying the second identifier received from the multiplex interface according to transmission rate of the second analog interface and send the second data to the identifier processing module.
18. A method for forwarding data in Ethernet, comprising: configuring cross relationships between network device interfaces; determining whether an interface has a cross relationship with other interfaces according to the cross relationships configured after receiving data from the interface; sending the data to an interface which has a cross relationship with the interface from which the data is received if the interface from which the data is received has a cross relationship with other interfaces; and proceeding with existing forwarding processing in each layer if the interface from which the data is received does not have a cross relationship with other interfaces.
19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising at least one of: cascading a plurality of Ethernet physical layer cross apparatuses; cascading a plurality of Ethernet Media Access Control, MAC, layer cross apparatus; and cascading a plurality of Ethernet IP layer cross apparatus; wherein each of the cascaded Ethernet physical layer cross apparatus, each of the cascaded Ethernet MAC layer cross apparatus, and each of the cascaded Ethernet IP layer cross apparatus performs the processing of the receiving, determining and sending.
20. The method of claim 18 , when the Ethernet physical layer cross apparatus performs the processing of the determining and sending, after receiving the data from the interface and before determining according to the cross relationships configured, further comprising; performing, by the Ethernet physical layer cross apparatus, A/D conversion processing and clock and coding/decoding processing to the data received from the interface; and when the Ethernet MAC layer cross apparatus or the Ethernet IP layer cross apparatus performs the processing of the determining and sending, after receiving the data from the interface and before determining according to the cross relationships configured, further comprising; de-multiplexing, by the Ethernet MAC layer cross apparatus or the Ethernet IP layer cross apparatus, the data received from the interface.
21. The method of claim 18 , wherein configuring the cross relationships between the network device interfaces comprises: determining a first user terminal and a second user terminal having a fixed path relationship; configuring a cross relationship between a first network device interface connected with the first user terminal and a second network device interface connected with the second user terminal.
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November 25, 2008
April 3, 2012
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